How public schools in Entebbe are rotting away

ENTEBBE- For the past two consecutive years, Entebbe Municipality has been listed as the second best performing municipality in the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) out of the 22 municipalities in the country, according to Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) records.

However, most of the schools that make Entebbe Municipality shine academically at national level, are privately-owned schools, leaving public schools lagging behind.

According to last year’s PLE results, only three government schools in the municipality were listed among the best 1,000 in the country.

St Agnes Primary School was listed in the 284th position with 52 first grades, while Bugonga Boys Primary School came 850th with 18 first grades and Nakiwogo Primary School in the 920th position with only nine first grades.

The poor academic performance in public schools in the municipality is blamed on a myriad of problems ranging from overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated structures which do not provide a conducive learning environment to the pupils, among other reasons.

For example at St Joseph’s Katabi Primary School, which has a population of more than 900 pupils, some of the classrooms have been abandoned because they are not fit for human habitation.

According to the school head teacher, Ms Josephine Namusisi, some classrooms had to be abandoned for fear of collapsing.
The same concerns were echoed by the deputy head teacher of Kigungu Primary School, Ms Beatrice Naigaga, whose office besides leaking, has been invaded by rats and bats.

“Sometimes, rats fall on my head from the ceiling,” Ms Naigaga said during an interview on Wednesday.
Since the dilapidated classrooms lack windows and doors, some promiscuous residents around the school, use the classrooms as lodges at night.

“Pupils usually find used condoms and sexual fluids in their classrooms as they come for lessons in the morning,” she added.
Chadwick Namate Primary School, which was established in 1901, has since 2003 experienced a shortage of pit-latrines.

According to the head teacher, Mr Barnabas Katumba, the ‘new’ toilet, which was constructed 14 years ago, has never been utilised due to the poor building materials used, forcing pupils to resort to using the old pit- latrine, which is currently over strained due to the high number of pupils.

Other public schools in the municipality which are in a poor state include St. Therese, Nakiwogo, Lake Victoria, Kiwafu Muslim, Entebbe Changisha Model, Entebbe Children’s Welfare, Nsamizi Army, Air Force and Marine Base primary schools.

Low government funding
Mr Deo Maseruka of Nakiwogo Primary School, urged the government to increase capitation grants for each of the pupils under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme, from the current Shs1,000 to at least Shs6, 000 per pupil per term.

Ms Christine Mugwanya, the head teacher of Entebbe Welfare, a school for children with special needs, said government disburses less funds which complicates their work to cater for pupils with special needs.

“Imagine, we receive only Shs1m every quarter to cater for those children. These are children who always demand for more food or porridge in case they’re not satisfied and always react furiously in case their demands are not met in time,” Ms Mugwanya explained.

The Entebbe Municipality deputy mayor, Mr Richard Sekyondo, who also doubles as secretary for education at the municipal council, said they have on several occasions petitioned the central government to come to their recue but in vain.

“It is true all our schools are in bad state but we cannot do much as a municipality given the meagre resource envelope. We lack decent classrooms, teachers’ quarters and furniture. We will be glad if good Samaritans assist us,” Mr Sekyondo said.

It is against this background that Entebbe Municipality organised a marathon last weekend with the intention of raising funds to support public schools in the area.

Prior to the run, Entebbe Town Clerk, Mr Charles Magumba, said all the proceeds would be channeled towards revamping and refurbishing public schools in the municipality.

“Our target this year is to raise at least Shs10b from the marathon which will go towards improving of our public primary schools,” he said.

Several corporate companies, including Monitor Publications Ltd, NTV-Uganda, Ethiopian Airlines , China Communications Construction Company Ltd, Africa Gold Refinery, Hariss International Ltd, Sinicham, Movit, Balunywa Foundation and Civil Aviation Authority, partnered to sponsor this year’s marathon with three categories of races that included 10km, 21km and 42km.

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